THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE by Brian Greene. A chapter by chapter discussion would be very interesting. I really enjoyed this book and would gladly read through it again. I did a review in my Myspace blog which I will reput here:
I just recently finished Brian Greene's book THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE. This is the same person who did the 3 hour Nova series by the same name. This book is almost 400 pages long, and I admit I was a little cross-eyed as I got near the end. It goes into a lot more detail than the TV series. If the TV series ignited your curiosity, then I recommend this book because it gives so much more. It is not for the faint of heart because it is complex material; but because he is a good writer, it is not impossible to understand. He brings it down to earth for the non-physicist and people who don't remember all the math they had in school. (Certainly I do not since it was more than 20 years ago that I sat in any sort of math class.)
It is definately a book a Sith would want to read since Sith want the edge when it comes to the secrets of the Force. Even a Jedi could be interested. Persuits like this take it out of the Star Wars universe into something that is actually real. For those who are into the Force for real and not just role-play, this is a good path.
What is the Force really? A book like this starts to answer such a question.
The physics world acknowledges four forces: The strong force, the weak force, gravity, and electromagnetism. The ones we notice every day are the second two because the strong force is deep in the atom holding the nucleus together. We do not notice it unless nukes go off releasing that bond. The weak force comes into play as the radiation after the nuke. Gravity....well, we all know that one and think about it if we land on our caboose. Electromagnetism is the stuff we use to heat our coffee and send signals into space...all those various waves.
Brian Greene explained how all these forces relate to one another and how at one time, way back at the big bang, they were all together as one force. Very shortly after the big bang, they separated from one another. Some were more potent than others, some short range as to reach and some long range. Somehow they all balance out. If one of them should suddenly become stronger or weaker, it is quite possible our universe could no longer be.
This book starts out with explanations of Special and General Relativity and some basics of quantum mechanics. He explained it in a very understandable way. He then said where they reached their limits. The relativity camp and the quantum mechanics camp have been at odds over the years. The relativists deal with the big picture like large bodies in space: planets, suns, supernovas, black holes, etc. The quantum people delve into the depths of the particles of the atom. When one applies their ideas to the other camp's world, they run into contradictions, particularly at the extremes of big and small.
Will the two camps come together? Brian Greene said someday they could, and the answer is String Theory. String theory is a theory that is supposed to cover everything. The short of it is this: Atomic particles are not infinitly small points, they are made up of very tiny vibrating strings. The vibration of the string determines the kind of particle it is and its energies. They live in many dimensions. Our world (3 dimensions plus time) is only part of where these strings exist. They exist on 6 more dimensions, tiny dimensions that are curled up in what looks like a very weird looking shape, a calabi yau. It is actually impossible for anyone to draw a picture of a total of 10 dimensions since we can only really see three. Those who know this very complex sort of math can calculate that they are there and they have a certain shape and pattern. These deimensions are the places where the various strings vibrate and they get their characteristics. Brian Greene comepared it to a horn that has a certain shape and how the shape of the horn makes the sound (vibration) of the note being played.
String theory had its start somewhere in the 1970's and 80's. In the 1980's it was a bit of a mess. There was more than one version of the theory and many contradictions. No one took it too seriously just yet. In the physics world, something is just a vague neat idea until somebody gets the math to work. Once the math works, the theory gains in status to at least a solid theory. This happened one stormy night. This was depicted in the film version where you see two people working out math on a dark stormy night.
The 1990's got even better for the world of string theory. They found out that all the various versions of string theory fit together and are just different versions of the same thing. The union came to be known as M theory. Another dimension, an 11th was added to the existing 10. They also added these things called branes.
There is hope that string theory will explain things not yet understood, and explain seeming contradictions. It may even explain certain things about the origins of the universe. For example, the usual story of the big bang states how everything burst forth from an infinitely small point. String theorists say that the point was small, but not infinitly small. It was a planck length which is the smallest unit of measure known. The dimensions and the strings were tightly wrapped up in this planck length point. When it banged, three spacial dimensions unfurled and grew very large. The other six remained curled up and small.
Will they ever prove it? That may be a long time coming because planck length is too small for experimenters to see. Atoms are huge compared to this. There is hope of finding things that will confirm what string theorists say to be true. They are currently looking for a particle that is a unit of gravity, the graviton, along with some other particles that they say exist that no one has seen yet. There is hope that the new collider in Europe (CERN) will reveal more. It is like a quantum treasure hunt.
I rather like the theory. The idea that all matter and all energy is made up of vibrating strings sounds rather cool to me. It reminds me of the norse rune practice. It also appeals to one who likes the Force on Star Wars. It is a little mystical, but not too mystical.
The Strings be with you!
Empress Palpatine
If you would like to see the NOVA version go here:
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.htmlThis explains the basics. The book covers more in depth.
